1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to temporary concrete forms used to construct footers for a building, and more particularly to cleats used with concrete forms designed to hold the sides of the form together and to support steel rebar located therein at desired locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Concrete footings are made by pouring concrete into wooden forms that are temporarily assembled onsite. After the concrete has cured, the forms are disassembled and removed from the footing and then reassembled at other locations.
It is important that the forms are made of material that can remain in position on the ground and can hold wet concrete. Metal stakes are commonly driven into the ground adjacent to the side and end boards on the form to temporarily hold the forms in place. Wooden spacer boards are transversely aligned and attached to the top surfaces of the side boards at selected locations to keep the side boards apart and to keep them from bowing outward when concrete is poured inside the form.
Steel rebar is often placed inside the footing at desired locations to increase its strength. The rebar is often tied to secondary braces, clips or scaffold structures that hold them in their desired locations inside the form. The braces, clips and scaffold structures are sufficiently strong enough to hold the rebar, and capable of being easily assembled and disassembled.
Many footings used with residential houses and small buildings require vertically aligned “J” shaped rebar equally spaced apart along the length of the footing. The rebar is positioned so that the rebar's angled section extends into the form's cavity while its straight leg extends vertically upward. The straight leg usually connects to concrete blocks or to rebar used to construct an upper wall supported by the footing.
Building construction requires timely coordination of different subcontractors and suppliers. Certain tasks must be completed before other tasks can be started. For example, the excavators must clear the ground or prepare trenches before the labors can assemble the forms used to construct the footings. The wooden sideboards and rebar must be delivered to the job site before concrete can be poured. Even after the forms and the rebar have been assembled, they must be inspected.
Unfortunately, delays can occur that prevent some tasks from being completed. If workers and materials for a particular task are available it may be cost effective to allow the workers to start one task that may normally be completed only after the incomplete task is completed. An example of task that may be started or completed out of sequence is the assembly of rebar wall over a footing before the footing form as been inspected or poured. The height and length of the rebar wall constructed is often determined by the strength of the braces, clips or scaffold structures used to support them.